SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Sioux City’s own, “Sioux City Ghosts” softball team entertained crowds from Iowa to the West Coast, Canada and Mexico from 1925 to 1956. They were dubbed the “Harlem Globetrotters” of softball.

100 years ago, Hopkins School and the playground sat at 8th and Panoah Streets in Sioux City. It is where the Sioux City Ghosts Softball team got their start.

The Sioux City Ghosts began in 1925 as a Boy’s Club. The team didn’t have uniforms, and most players didn’t have gloves. In a 1995 interview courtesy of Jim Tillman, a former Sioux City Ghost explained what the team looked like.

“They had bib overalls, they had tennis shoes, they played ball. The only person that had a catcher’s mitt was the catcher. Everyone else played bare-handed until later on, until they had a little bit of money and could buy some gloves,” Frankie Williams, former Ghost said.

1995 interview, courtesy Jim Tillman

After winning a Sioux City Junior League Championship and later, a Sioux City Senior League Championship, they received sponsorship from Jack Page. With the sponsorship from Page, they became known as “Jack-The Cleaners” and started playing teams outside of Sioux City.

“They certainly played around Iowa. Kingsley, Hinton, Lake View. So, they have a distinct Iowa history, and to many people, it’s still unknown,” local historian and author Jim Tillman said.

By 1933, The team had a new manager, Henry “Fats” Fisher and a new sponsor, Whitney Cleaners.

That’s when they officially became the Sioux City Ghosts. They also got Uniforms: black shirts and pants with an orange skull and crossbones. They headed west to play teams on the west coast, Mexico and Canada. They also started to develop some improvised comedy routines.

“It was really Henry Fisher that pushed them out of Sioux City and got them touring. I think he saw the potential of these athletes as well as their comic routines, that are starting to develop early in their play,” Tom Munson, the archives manager at the Sioux City Public Museum said.

The team started to concentrate on their comedy routines during the 1935 season. Mixing great play on the field and bringing laughs to the crowd.

“They were the Harlem Globetrotters of softball. The Ghosts use to use… ride bicycles, trikes around the bases,” Tillman said. “They used to use watermelons as part of their routine and the famous slow pitch that they always played.  It was just an amazing journey.”

The team took a break during World War II so team members could serve. After the war, they continued to play until 1956 when the team disbanded. The Ghosts finished with an overall record of 2000 wins and just 100 losses.

In the late 1980’s the team was inducted into the Iowa Amateur Softball Hall of Fame and in the 1990’s they came back together to help dedicate Kirk Hansen Park in the Riverside neighborhood.

“It’s part of Sioux City history so we should get behind that and certainly let the state of Iowa know about it and let the world know about it. Let Sioux City know about it. It’s a great story. So yeah. Great men,” Tillman said.